Former Memphis Police officers convicted on tampering charges in Tyre Nichols case

A jury rendered a mixed verdict Thursday for three former Memphis police officers who were involved in the deadly blow of Nichols tires in 2023. Two of the three officers were acquitted for accusations of defense of civil rights resulting from the death of Nichols, but all three were convicted of accusations of testimony.

Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley were all members of the Scorpion unit since dispersed of Memphis. They were part of a group of five officers who beat Nichols following a traffic stop in January 2023. Nichols died of his injuries several days later. The five former officers involved faced accusations of second degree murder, although two officers who were not in court on Thursday agreed to plead guilty.

When images of the Nichols beating officers were released, this caused a shock and led to generalized demonstrations. The law professor of the state of Georgia, Anthony Michael Kreis, said that the images of Bodycam showed “a depraved indifference towards human life” and declared that the blows were “nothing less than an extrajudicial execution”.

On Thursday, in the decision, Bean and Smith were acquitted for federal accusations to have violated the civil rights of Nichols, causing death. Haley was found guilty of less accusation of having violated civil rights causing injuries. Haley sent a photo of Nichols after blows to several people.

Bean, Smith and Haley risk up to 20 years in prison for their falsification of federal witnesses. A date has not been set for their cases of state murder.